OSLO, Nov 24 (Reuters) – The Maldives took a step on Wednesday towards a goal of becoming the first “carbon neutral” nation by 2020 with an audit showing its citizens emit the same amount of greenhouse gases as tourists flying to its islands.

Nov. 11 — Arizona State University issued the following news release: When University Technology Office (UTO) staff moved from the Computing Commons to the University Services Building, they reduced a dozen copiers and printers for more than 100 staff members down to three Canon multifunction devices with the ability to accomplish the same tasks more efficiently. UTO uses Canon’s state-of-the-art technology to meet the copy, print and scan needs of their department. Environmentally, this saves energy and paper consumption as well as potentially saving thousands of dollars in toner. One Canon toner cartridge in a standard multifunction device can print up to 48,000 prints (6 percent coverage on a page), which is equivalent to 19 printer toners found in HP devices.

Based on responses by more than 300 global companies, this report from EcoSecurities, ClimateBiz and Baker & McKenzie offers a snapshot of global corporate attitudes toward the voluntary carbon market and the role of carbon offsets within larger carbon management strategies. It follows the inaugural “Carbon Offsetting Trends Survey 2008,” which was among the first to probe the buyer’s perspective of the voluntary carbon market.

Lexmark International, the printing solutions provider, has called on Europes public sector organisations to take actions to positively impact the 2020 efficiency and C02 targets set by the European Union (EU).

With the prices of fuel hitting the roof and the threat of global warming looming large, the French territory of Reunion Island has embarked on a mission to become completely carbon neutral. Their target is to generate 100 per cent of the island’s electricity through renewable sources by the year 2025 and by 2050 run its transportation completely on renewables.

Currently the island is using renewable energy to meet 36% of its power needs, but huge investments are being made to establish photo voltaic, wind and hydro projects on a large scale. Scientists are also exploring the possibility of using geothermal energy from volcanoes as well as ocean energy. The President of the area’s Regional Council, Paul Verges stated:

“We will be fighting 100 percent against CO2 at the same date that you (the G8 rich nations) will be at 50 percent”

That’s a lofty goal but the island will need to come up with innovative measures to counter the increase in population and energy consumption, to ensure that it progresses towards carbon neutrality as per schedule.

Zion and Zion – a leading marketing/advertising firm based in Phoenix and Atlanta has decided to undertake a comprehensive carbon offsetting initiative in a bid to completely wipe out its carbon footprint. While other firms in the industry have also taken steps towards reducing their emissions, what sets Zion and Zion apart is that it will be the first in the marketing industry to fully offset its carbon emissions. Also noteworthy is the fact that the firm will offset not only its electricity usage and waste production but also emissions caused by commuting/traveling of its employees and energy usage of its data center. Zion and Zion’s carbon emissions were estimated as per the The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative or the GHG Protocol.

The firm claims association with a large number of clients who offer eco-friendly products. And now with the launch of the carbon offset program , Zion and Zion has certainly upped its green credentials. The COO of the firm, DuGue Zion said:

“…the total offset of our carbon footprint emerged as part of our go forward strategy with respect to operations and our culture in general.”

Working on the computer might seem like a harmless enough activity, but the fact is that computers have a fairly enormous carbon footprint. In fact, a while back it was reported that the global IT industry’s carbon emissions of two per cent of the total, puts it at par with the aviation industry as far as emissions go. Steps such as turning off your PCs , recycling etc. certainly go a long way in conserving energy but new and innovative solutions are also on the way.

Inferknow’s “Green” is a case in point. Green is a Firefox browser extension that collects data from your PC so as to personalize the web ads that you encounter while browsing. The revenues generated from web ads go towards the purchase of carbon credits from Carbonfund.org – a leading carbon offset provider, to reduce the environmental impact of your PC. Green is free, easy to install and available for download here.

The Gander International Airport has become carbon neutral and may be the first North American airport to achieve this status. Along with its tenant firms, the Gander International Airport Authority (GIAA) is executing an extensive plan to reduce the airports GHG emissions. In addition, the authorities have bought carbon offsets via The CarbonNeutral Company for those emissions that cannot be eliminated through the emissions reduction program.

GIAA CEO Gary Veo says the authorities have fixed a 33% emissions reduction target to be achieved by 2020. An energy expert has been hired to seek advices about the use of renewable energy to cut both emissions and expenses. To promote an environment friendly culture at the workplace, a Green Committee has been established comprising of employees and partners. Mr. Veo said they are looking forward to

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